Thompson Rivers University-100 Mile House (TRU) is moving.
TRU will share space with WorkBC Employment Services Centre (WorkBC) at 1-808 Alpine Ave., beginning Jan. 3.
Robin Bercowski, TRU community co-ordinator, says the mood at the local campus is “very celebratory.”
“I’m pretty excited. We do a lot of work with the same clients, and being in the same building with [WorkBC] and the same clients is going to be a bonus.”
Current students can be reassured all classes underway will continue uninterrupted until the usual holiday break on Dec. 22.
As of Dec. 8, TRU’s main office will close temporarily to prepare for its relocation, but Bercowski says e-mails will be read and responded to right up to the Christmas break.
When the idea came up and sounded good, TRU approached the local WorkBC managers who were “all on board with it,” and it went forward from there, she explains.
At WorkBC, finance and facility manager Tori Thatcher says everyone is enthusiastic about welcoming TRU at their location.
“We are excited to be sharing a building with TRU and further strengthening our relationship with the local university [campus].
“We believe having such close proximity to each other will provide people in the community further knowledge on what both TRU and WorkBC have to offer, with one convenient [location].”
While Horton Ventures has been known around the community as the Community Employment Centre (CES) and the signage was changed only recently, it has actually been running into WorkBC for more than four years now, Thatcher explains.
“The program change actually happened in April 2012, and Horton Ventures wanted to give the people in the community time to recognize that although how we are known has changed, we are still offering the same services and friendly faces.”
Bercowski says all of the same equipment and even more space will be available for TRU offices and classrooms as it has offered at its current location at the South Cariboo Business Centre downtown.
“The space that will be dedicated to TRU is on the south side of the building, so when you go in the main door, you then go left.”
There you will find an area that will be TRU reception, and then off of that will be it’s main office, where she will be working, she adds.
“Down the hall is the big conference room, and that will be our large classroom that we share with WorkBC, and down the hall there is a computer lab set up, with a dozen new computers, and we will be sharing that lab also….”
Bercowski says she has no concerns about co-ordinating TRU classes and computer time while avoiding conflicts with its new building partner’s workshops and clients.
“We just work together in scheduling the classrooms … they are very flexible. I have already scheduled classes for the new year and it’s worked out beautifully so far.”
The TRU phone number (250-395-3115) and e-mail address (rbercowski@tru.ca) will remain the same, she notes.
